You’re an Expat’? Share Your Story!

Currently living in

SINGAPORE

Who am I?

Hi there! You can call me Lilly.

I’m a 25-year-old girl, originally from France, in love with traveling, discovering other cultures, learning languages, photography, film editing, obviously blogging and also all things related to Japan and japanese culture.

In 2018, I graduated as a lawyer in France but I currently live and work as a legal counsel in Singapore.

Beside my blog, I own a YouTube channel, 2 Instagram feeds, and I am quite active on Twitter :)

Featured: THE FRENCH HAT

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Tag: advice

I’ve had a hard time writing on this topic, because I do think I’m not like many people and it’s making me nervous. But I’ve also said I’ll be as honest as possible on this blog. October the 15th has passed, therefore it’s official: I’ll be leaving for my second expatriation in less than a month.

And yes, you’ve guessed it, Singapore is the destination!

Small disclaimer: in this blog post, I’ll be talking about very sensitive subjects, on purpose, because I feel like giving my opinion and let my voice be heard is quite as important as hearing the voice of others on those subjects. So there will be talk about:

Expatriation v. immigration;

White European girl wanting to discover as much as she can about the Asian culture(s);

Moving v. Traveling

To make things perfectly clear, I’m going to Singapore to work, and work a lot for that matter. And anyway, Singaporean authorities wouldn’t let me stay on their land otherwise. You can find a lot of resources on that subject everywhere on the web.

But to be perfectly honest, I can’t believe my luck.

The Wonders Of Asia

My first expatriation was in Ireland, and it already was quite a change compared to France. I had some preconceived ideas about the culture that were literally blown away by the end of my two years living there. And I’ve discovered things you could never find in books or on the internet. But that’s for another blog post.

But now Asia, this is a whole other story.

As a white French girl, I will say I feel as far from the Asian culture as can be: not by choice, though. I would love to know more about each and every culture composing it, making this culture one of the oldest, richest and most diverse of our world.

Japan I know a lot already, due to my early interest in this country and my learning of its language since early 2017. But what about the others?

What am I rambling about? I say this because Singapore is a real melting pot: it has a diversity of languages, religions, and cultures, with 4 official languages, 8 religions being practiced on its land, and at least 9 completely different cultures thriving there.

And for the record, I currently feel two things:

I feel very lucky to be able to see what I’ve been dreaming about with my own eyes;

I feel disappointed I’ll probably never be able to fit in any of the Asian countries.

Which brings me to my next point:

Why Stay In My Original Country?

…while there is so much to discover elsewhere?

And I do mean discovering it by actually living in those places. Not wandering about during your annual two-week holiday trip.

I’m not saying you won’t see anything in such a short period of time, but rather that you won’t be able to get very much in depth on anything.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, I will be touching on those sensitive points I’ve disclaimed above.

I’m not judging anyone, I’m just saying I know you simply cannot get a good idea of a place and its culture(s) while only staying there for less than three months. And yes that’s a totally subjective minimum.

Now, people will have different takes on this, but I also think a place cannot be detached from its living population: therefore it’s constantly growing and you will never be able to know everything about it (but I guess it’s now more a matter of what you consider being a ‘knowledge’… but I’m going too far).

My point is, I’m not saying I wish to discover the Asian culture to then become a sort of sociological expert or a tour guide.

I’m not fooling myself thinking I’ll know everything there is to know about Asia even after living there for years.

But I can try experiencing as much as I can get into my system.

In fact, just so you know I make a point living like locals when I’m in another country. Not imitating, but experiencing life as they do. So that after a while, I can consider myself a local without blushing.

And I’m desperate to do it again soon.

Privileged French Expat’

Okay, third sensitive point. And it may be the worst one for many people. So without getting into much detail I’ll just say this:

Yes, I am white. Yes, I am French and therefore extremely favoured compared to most of the world’s population.

But I can’t do anything about those two things.

Yes, I have the opportunity to expatriate myself, i.e. moving to another country where I’ll be working (/immigrating: moving to another country because my original one cannot welcome me anymore).

And YES, I know how lucky I am and how many people would love to find work in the first place and what’s more find work in another country than their original one.

I’m not saying being aware of it wipes out the fact I still am considered privileged.

I only wanted to address this topic before getting real hate about it, and I know I will get it.

Saying Goodbye…

Last time I knew I would stay in Ireland for 2 years.

This time I’m saying goodbye for I don’t know how long… every single one of my close family members and friends have already planned their trip to come and see me over the next year.

Adventure cannot get more real than that, despite it being a sensitive matter because of my skin colour, nationality and situation in life.